Avengers Undercover # 4

Written by Dennis Hopeless
Illustrated by Kev Walker and Jason Gorder
Colours by Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letters by Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel

This series follows up last years 18 issue Avengers Arena, in which a group of young superheroes were captured by supervillain Arcade and forced to fight to the death in his artificial "Murder World" a la Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, as Arcade broadcasts footage of their ordeal to the world.

In this series,  the survivors have difficulty adapting to their daily life, and set out for revenge against Arcade.  However they find themselves increasingly drawn to the dark side.

The series builds on the events of Avengers Arcade and shows how heroes could be drawn to villainy.  It's refreshing to see a comic where events actually have lasting consequences both physically and emotionally for the characters.

The story is well-written with a real feel for characters and doesn't let the action drown out the characters.  However the action keeps ticking along nicely.  The artwork is dynamic and works well for the action.

   Cover art by Francesco Mattina